Couples Therapy / Marriage Counseling

IS IT TIME FOR PROFESSIONAL HELP?

The relationship with a romantic partner can be a great source of happiness and support. It can also be a great source of pain. It is important to determine if your relationship might need professional help.

If one or more of the following seem familiar to you; it is time to take action to improve your relationship.

Do you feel you are living like roommates?
Do conversations turn into arguments filled with criticisms, defensiveness and personal attacks?
Has an affair turned your relationship upside down?
Do you avoid each other in order to avoid fighting?
Are there frequent disagreements about money, division of household chores, parenting, or in-laws ?
Do you wonder what happened to the intimacy and passion you used to share?
Has sex become an issue? Too much, not enough, too routine?
Do you feel hopeless and unsure if there is any way forward?
Are there trust issues such as hiding cell phone/texting; suspicious absences?
Are you thinking of moving your relationship to the next level such as moving in together or getting married and want to talk through common stumbling blocks couples find themselves in?

A lack of skills is the main problem for most couples

This lack of skills frequently shows up in the areas of communication, anger management, conflict resolution, commitment and intimacy skills. You don’t know what you don’t know and you missed the course in Relationship Skills 101 in college. Therefore, you don’t know how to successfully resolve ongoing resentments; anger; verbal abuse; betrayal of trust; cheating or other infidelity related issues; and distance or lack of closeness in your relationship.

The good news is that these skills can be taught to motivated couples.

GET HELP NOW!

SCHEDULE YOUR FREE CONSULTATION

TEXT OR EMAIL NOW

703-437-6311

[email protected]

GET RELIEF AND REPAIR YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH SPECIALIZED COUNSELING

My approach to working with couples is active and directive. I use the latest research-based methods of communication, conflict resolution, attachment theory and trust building. I help couples learn how to argue constructively and fight fairly, how to listen and communicate, how to set appropriate boundaries, how to enhance intimacy, and how to turn conflicts into solutions. I also help partners understand how their past experiences contribute to the types of conflicts that arise in their current relationship.

The most important thing about getting couples counseling is that you are able to take what you learn in a session and actually use it to improve your relationship.

It is unfortunate but true that many psychotherapists offer Couples’ Therapy who have not been trained to do so. Couples session where the therapist simply acts as a referee does not tend to produce any long-lasting changes in relationship patterns. Working with couples requires specialized training and experience.

I am a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist with over 20 years of training and experience. Additionally, I am a certified instructor for the PAIRS organization. PAIRS is a non-profit corporation whose mission is to teach attitudes, emotional understandings, and behaviors that nurture and sustain healthy relationships.

I draw from multiple evidence-based relationship methods of therapy to include: Gottman, Imago, Emotional Focused Therapy (EFT), and The Developmental Model.

“Never love anybody that treats you like you’re ordinary.”
~ Oscar Wilde

Here’s what people are saying:

“My wife and I would not still be married today had we not gotten help from Dr. Ritchie. She taught us so much. The techniques we learned from her truly transformed our marriage.”
~Michael J. July 2016

“Neither of us ever felt heard by the other. We fought all the time. After working with Linda, we can now have conversations rather than fights. Both my husband and I feel good about our relationship and good about each other.”
~Marie L. December 2017

“We are getting married in 8 months and decided to do some pre-marriage counseling to see if we could avoid making mistakes down the road. Both my fiancé and I are so glad that we did. We learned some really valuable skills that I know are going to help us avoid problems and keep our relationship on track .”
~Tara K. February 2021

In a healthy relationship, both partners feel physically and emotionally safe. Therefore, they want to get close and create an emotionally and physically intimate relationship that is built on an interdependent connection. It is the quality of one’s relationship that determines the quality of life.